A blog about gardening in Oslo, Norway

Tag Archives: what to sow

Now is a good time to start thinking about what vegetables and fruit you want to grow. Here’s a handy checklist to help you plan:

What do you like to eat? Stick to things you enjoy eating or want to try for the first time. The last thing you want is an endless supply of something you don’t like, though you can be generous and share it with friends, family or neighbours!

How much space have you got? You don’t need a big area but some fruit and vegetables like to have deep soil to stretch out in so if you are planting in pots, make sure they are deep enough. Think about the eventual height and spread of some plants so that they get what they need and you don’t get crowded out!

Spread out your harvests. Don’t sow things all at once. That way you can harvest gradually rather than having one harvest at the end.

Where are you going to grow? Make use of the space you have so that you maximise your potential. Is it south or north facing? Do you catch the sun for part of the day or for the whole day? Is it windy, is it by the sea? As a general rule find a sheltered spot that gets at least some sun in the day.

Match your growing space with the plant’s needs. You’ll get better results if you give the plant conditions it prefers to grow in. For example, lettuces, like to keep cool and can tolerate a lot of shade. Plus they don’t require a lot of space. Whereas courgettes like to spread out and adore the sun. Keep them happy and they’ll reward you!

Look out for seeds at your local garden centre: Plantasjen and Hageland are the largest in Oslo; some supermarkets and whole food shops. There are also online retailers such as solhatt.no and gardenliving.no that sell varieties specifically suited to the Nordic climate.